Our candidates for this year's worst-hitting pitcher are so awful, even you might be able to take the field and outdo them in the batter's box.

Bradford Doolittle ESPN Staff Writer

There is a lot of stuff slinging around Vegas in regards to the rumored Mets/Marlins/Yankees deal. With so many moving parts, it seems unlikely to move from rumor to reality, but you never know. It's been awhile since baseball had a great blockbuster three-teamer. The big clog in the machine: Would the Yankees really want to part with Miguel Andujar and a package of meaningful prospects for three years of Noah Syndergaard, who has started just 32 games over the last two years? Also, it still seems like any win-right-now scenario for the Mets would involve Thor, but Andujar and JT Realmuto would be an amazing return. Should be an interesting day in Vegas.

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Bradford Doolittle ESPN Staff Writer

Don Mattingly echoes the thoughts of many who don't want baseball to codify a policy against defensive shifts: "I don't worry about the shift so much as finding guys who can use the whole field. You can use the whole field, they're not going to shift."

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Bradford Doolittle ESPN Staff Writer

Marlins manager Don Mattingly, on Miami's place is a rapidly improving NL East, "You're realistic about the division and where we are right now. (However) we can't just say this will be another year like last year. We have to get to get guys into their next phase. Anything can happen."

While this winter's crop searches for new homes, we look ahead to the big decisions that loom for some of the game's top stars -- Nolan Arenado, Chris Sale, Paul Goldschmidt and Gerrit Cole among them.